Ainslie comfortable with 36th America's Cup format

In response to the 36th America’s Cup Protocol announcement which defines some of the rules of the next edition of the contest, Sir Ben Ainslie said he was "comfortable with the transition" . . . back to a monohull racing.

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"We are comfortable with the transition, the key people in our sailing, design, engineering and support teams all have a great deal of relevant experience." said Team Principal, Ben Ainslie. "With the rule not coming out until March, we hope that it will be a collaborative approach to its development with all stakeholders included."

Ainslie continued . . .

The America's Cup is the hardest trophy to win in world sport, and it's likely that we will be traveling half-way around the world to compete on the home waters of the world's most successful modern America's Cup team.

Team New Zealand have been in all six of the openly contested Cups since 1995, and they have won three of them.

We don't underestimate the challenge – it is immense – but we will call on the very best of British technology and innovation through our partners, and use that British fighting spirit to finally bring the Cup home to Britain.

We will learn from our mistakes, and come back stronger. I want to thank the team's board of Investors led by Chairman Sir Charles Dunstone and title and main partners Land Rover, 11th Hour Racing, Aberdeen Standard Investments, CMC, BT and Coutts for their continued support which allows us to go forward with such confidence.